JOKER director Todd Phillips thinks people will be mad at his departure from the comics. I think Comics fans are fine with departures from canon, so long as the movie is good and the departures make sense.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Spider-Man: Far From Home swings high above the chart with 185MM, a record 6-day Independence Day launch and Sony's best opening oversix days, which started with a record Tuesday opening record of 39.2MM. The three-day weekend total was 93.6MM. It crushed Homecoming's 117MM debut, though that film opened after the Fourth in 2017. It also grossed another 395MM in international markets, almost 50 percent higher ythan Homecoming. And with no wannabe blockbusters coming Friday, odds look good for a big follow-up frame. Toy Story 4 placed with 34.3MMon a 43 percent drop and broke the 300MM mark domestic. Yesterday shows with 10.8MM on a fairly leggy 37 percent dro; it's probably close to breaking even worldwide. Annabelle Comes Home takes the fourth slot with 9.8MM on a 52 percent drop; that's not uncommon for a horror flick, but it tends to confirm this will be the first in The Conjuring Universe to disappoint expectations. The Aladdin reboot rounds out the Top Five with another 7.6MM on a 25 percent drop as it crosses the 900MM mark worldwide.

THE ROLLING STONES covered "Mercy Mercy" for the first time since their legendary 1969 concert in Hyde Park.

THE WHO: Townshend and Daltrey debuted “Hero Ground Zero” at Wembley. And Eddie Vedder joined them for “The Punk And The Godfather."

THE BIRD & THE BEE bring BECK on for a jazzy take on Van Halen’s "Hot for Teacher."

JOHNNY MARR invited a fan onstage to play guitar on The Smiths' "This Charming Man"... and he nailed it.

...with THE BEACH BOYS! It's Pate Reunion Weekend and time to "Do It Again." Because folks my age will always remember their mammoth July 4th concerts at the Washington Monument -- as with this 1980 take o­n "Good Vibrations." Their "Lost Concert" from 1964 includes "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Long, Tall Texan," "Little Deuce Coupe," "Surfer Girl," "Surfin' USA," "Shut Down," "In My Room," "Papa Ooh Mow Mow," and "Hawaii." Their take on "Dance, Dance, Dance" from Shindig! later that year is like a slice of Christmas in July. There's also a nifty twofer of "I Get Around" and "'When I Grow Up (To Be A Man)" from their first UK TV appearance o­n Ready Steady Go! The Andy Williams Show serves up "Help Me, Rhonda," while The Jack Benny Hour produced these quick takes o­n "Barbara Ann" and "California Girls." There's a primitive video for "Wouldn't It Be Nice" that starts with a cameo from Brian Wilson's dogs (Banana and Louie), who appear at the end of the Pet Sounds LP. And I'll finish with a live version of "God Only Knows" from the 1967 European tour -- one of the last Brian would do for a decade or so.

Of course, the holiday more broadly celebrates the American Revolutionary War, and the Founders' unlikely victory. People with the highest standard of living and the lowest taxes in the Western World fought a sometimes unpopular war for our freedom. Early o­n, the Revolutionaries (also known as "Americans" or "Patriots") had the active support of about 40 to 45 percent of the colonial population. By 1779, there were more Americans fighting with the British than with Washington, which is why Washington needed help from the French, the Spanish and freed Blacks. You can separate fact from fiction regarding the sacrifices and fates of the Founders at Snopes. You can hear two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough read from the first chapter of his 1776 via NPR. Or watch a nifty clip on the passage and public reading of the Declaration from the John Adams miniseries.

NOW SHOWING: This long weekend's wide releases are Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is currently scoring 93 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and Midsommar, which is scoring 82 percent.

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME has most of what made its predecessor, Homecoming, a blast, which is to say it still has the trappings of a teen comedy (including the 80s music) wrapped up in superhero action -- and its backed up by most of the cast returning and adjusting to life after the events of Averngers: Endgame. The movie's biggest flaw is that the tricky part of the plot recalls another movie and made a bit more sense in that movie. Nevertheless, the performances are winning (including Jake Gyllenhaal as Quentin Beck), the European setting is charming and the action is well-staged. The film also uses today's controversies about "fake news" as grist for its mill without getting political about it. There is a mid-credits scene and a post-credits scene; both are good, but you definitely do not want to miss that mid-credits scene.

THE FLASH: Andy Muschietti, the filmmaker behind the hit Stephen King adaptation It and the upcoming It: Chapter Two, is in talks to direct the film. Ezra Miller remains attached to star, but they're not using his script.